The Art of Living in Australia Part 50

POTATOES STUFFED

* 6 Large Potatoes--2d.

* 1/4 lb. Cold Meat--1/2d.

* 1/2 gill Gravy or Sauce *

* Pepper, Salt, and Parsley--1/2d.

* Total Cost--3d.

* Time--One Hour and a Half.

Wash and scrub the potatoes, and bake them in the oven till quite done.

Cut them in half so that they will stand nicely. Scoop out the inside, and mix the potato meal with some b.u.t.ter, pepper, and salt.

Make a little savoury meat by directions given for mince, and nearly fill the potato skins with this. Put some of the potato on top, making it look as rough and rocky as possible. Stand in the oven till quite hot, and serve.

HARICOT BEANS AND BACON

* 1 pint Haricot Beans--2d.

* 1 teaspoonful Parsley *

* 1/2 lb. Bacon *

* Pepper and Salt--5d.

* Total Cost--7d.

* Time--Two Hours.

Soak the haricot beans and boil them by directions already given. Rub them through a wire sieve. The bacon should be in thin rashers and very fat. Cook it carefully in a small clean frying-pan, and as the fat runs from it, pour it on the beans. Mash them up with this and a little pepper and salt, and put them into a hot dish. Sprinkle over with parsley and lay the bacon rashers on top. Serve hot.

ARTICHOKES, TO BOIL

* 2 lbs. Artichokes--4d.

* 1/2 pint White Sauce--1 1/2d.

* Total Cost--51/2 d.

* Time--One Hour *

Wash and peel the artichokes and put them into some water; add a teaspoonful of vinegar and leave them for half an hour. Drain the water all away and put them into a saucepan, cover with cold water; add one gill of milk and some salt. Bring to the boil and cook slowly for about an hour. Take half a pint of the liquor in which the artichokes were boiled, and make a sauce; dish them and pour this over.

IMITATION SPINACH

Take the very young green shoots of the pumpkin plant. Wash them well and put them into a large saucepan, with a very little water seasoned with salt and a pinch of carbonate of soda; keep pressing them down into the water and boil till soft. Turn into a colander and squeeze very dry, put into a saucepan with one ounce of b.u.t.ter, pepper, salt, and a few drops of lemon juice. Stir about till thoroughly hot through, dish neatly, and serve.

BANANAS STEWED

* 1 doz. Green Bananas--3d.

* Lemon Juice *

* 1/2 pint Brown Sauce *

* Pepper and Salt--2d.

* Total Cost--5d.

* Time--Half an Hour.

Peel the bananas and put them in boiling water to which a few drops of lemon juice have been added; boil them for half an hour, or until soft.

Make sauce by directions already given, flavour with lemon juice, pepper, and salt. Strain all the water from the bananas, dish, and pour over the sauce

POTATO CHIPS

To fry potatoes successfully, two things must be carefully attended to.

First of all dry the potatoes thoroughly, and then have very hot fat.

Peel the potatoes and dry them in a cloth. Cut into any shape--slices, strips, quarters, &c.--and dry again. Have a good quant.i.ty of very hot fat ready, put the chips into a frying basket, and plunge into the fat.

Fry quickly, and directly they are brown enough they are done. Throw them on to some kitchen paper to drain off the fat. Pile high on a dish, sprinkle with salt, and serve very hot.

ITALIAN CABBAGE

* 1 Cabbage--2d.

* 1 oz. b.u.t.ter--1d.

* 2 oz. Dry Cheese *

* 1 spoonful Flour *

* Pepper and Salt--1d.

* Total Cost--4d.

* Time--15 Minutes.

Boil the cabbage by directions given, strain away the water and press it very dry. Put the b.u.t.ter into a saucepan, and when it is dissolved, chop up the cabbage and put a layer at the bottom of the saucepan.

Sprinkle over some grated cheese, pepper, and salt, then more cabbage and cheese, until all are used up. Simmer gently for fifteen minutes, slip it on to a hot dish, and serve.